Tesco blackmail plot: Nigel Wright contaminated baby food

Media playback is not supported on your device

A farmer has been found guilty of adding metal shards to baby food in a plot to smear Tesco.

Nigel Wright, from Market Breeds in Lincolnshire, tried to print £ 1.4 million off the supermarket chain.

Old Bailey heard two mothers away from feeding their babies when they saw the sharps.

Wright was convicted of three counts of violations and two counts of contaminating goods. He will be sentenced on September 28.

Jurors were told he had sent dozens of letters and emails to the supermarket giant between May 2018 and February 2020 and demanded that the money be paid through the online currency Bitcoin.

The 45-year-old was convicted of a further charge of infringement for demanding £ 150,000 worth of Bitcoin from a driver with whom he had a shortcut on anger.

Mr. Justice Warby asked for a psychiatric report to be prepared prior to Wright’s trial, which said, “(Wright) seems to have a mental illness.”

The judge warned Wright that he was serving a long prison sentence, telling him that penalties for these types of crimes range from between eight and 17 years in prison.

Wright was taken prisoner on CCTV who placed one of the dirty pots on the shelf of a Tesco supermarket in Lockerbie.

Morven Smith, who is from the Scottish city, told the court she was removing her baby when she saw the sharp metal in the bowl. “I gave my son a few spoons and noticed some shine,” she said. “It was awful. I felt sick that I was so shocked.”

A second mother, from Rochdale, also reported that she discovered fragments of metal while feeding her nine-month-old daughter.

When police raided his sheep farm, they found photos of contaminated baby supplies and designs of exhaustion on his laptop.

One remark read: “Imagine that a baby’s mouth cuts open and blood comes out, when the inside of her body cuts and bleeds. You pay, you save her.”

Wright, who described her as the fictional character “Guy Brush” and “the Dairy Pirates”, claimed to be part of a cohort of farmers angry at the low price they were paid for their milk.

The farmer admitted placing a pot of Heinz baby food on a shelf in a store in Lockerbie, but claimed he was forced into it by travelers who threatened to kill him and his family, the court heard.

The discovery of the jar in Scotland prompted Tesco to issue a return of products. A total of 42,000 pots of baby food were recovered, but there was no evidence that any further action had been taken.

Deputy senior investigating officer Lucy Thomson, of Hertfordshire Constabulary, described what Wright did as “absolute disgrace”

She added: “I think his crime was absolutely horrific and of the most cynical nature, by endangering babies, and mothers, feeding their children.

“I do not think it will get much worse.”

Ms Thomson said officers had not uncovered evidence that Wright’s claims supported that he was threatened by travelers to run the premises.

A Tesco spokesman said: “The safety of our customers has always been our priority.

“Today’s conviction is the result of decisive and collaborative action we have taken alongside law enforcement agencies.”

The rape of research

The two-year hunt for Nigel Wright, named Operation Hancock, became the UK’s largest British ever-exhaustion investigation

At one point, more than 100 officers were working on the investigation with 30 officers sitting around the clock CCTV footage.

Wright was finally arrested on February 25 after an investigation led by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit with the help of the National Crime Agency.

Also involved were the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland, Public Health England, Public Health Scotland and Police Scotland.

During the robbery at his farm, police withdrew about £ 100,000 in Bitcoin which had been sent by undercover officers during the investigation.

Assistant Chief Constable Bill Jephson, who led the investigation on behalf of Hertfordshire Constabulary, described it as the “most serious and challenging” litigation case ever handled in the UK.

Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Facebook, Twitter, en Instagram. Submit your story ideas [email protected].